Wind and Tears
by skybase2jw
Summary: This is what happens after the wedding attempt. A strange girl is found, new powers are acquired, and Ranma is falling for Akane and the girl?


**Hiya! I hope that you enjoy my second fanfic. My first one didn't turn out so good. I'm thinking of erasing it. I'm not that fond of Inuyasha anymore (kgirl9113 made me promise that I wouldn't 'steal' Inuyasha from her) lol! Now on with the fanfic! **.

"Ranma! You pervert!"

"Jeez Akane! Please lemme explain! Oh, not again, not again!"

"You'll be sorry for coming into my room while I'm trying to get some sleep!"

"But P-chan is really Ry-!"

A quick whack with a large hammer silenced the Tendo heir. Panting, Akane let the mallet slip loose from her hand, thudding on the wooden floor, and gave an irratated glare at Ranma Saotome. The dimness in the hall that they were in was pitch black, but through the darkness, Ranma could still see Akane's eyes slightly shine. After he saw that, he only saw whirling stars in his head. P-chan smiled looking at Ranma from between Akane's feet.

"That'll teach you to go in my room!" she yelled before marching into her own room with P-chan at her side.

As soon as Akane slammed her door shut, Ranma sat up on his knees, his head throbbing where Akane had plummeted the hammer. He waited for the ruffled sound of moved cloth, which meant that Akane had gone back to her bed, and rested his dizzy head on his hand. He sat there for some moments, quietly thinking over what had happened the last few minutes.

"Why do I even bother?" he asked himself. "If Akane _wants_ to sleep with a pig, I won't stop her."

_Still_, he thought, _that pervert better not try anything soon. If he does, I'll have a kettle of boiling water ready!_

With that thought stuck in his head, he shuffled back to his room, slid the door shut, and pulled the covers over his head. He stared at the bamboo walls and the wooden ceiling before their inscriptions put him to sleep. His last understandable thought before he slumbered was: _That Akane is so uncute!_

IN THE MORNING

"Thanks, pop." Ranma said with monotone voice. "I think that it just stopped throbbing." A large panda and Ranma were sitting in their room, sunlight filtering through the clear window. It was slightly opened to let the breeze through. The morning wind swept through Ranma's hair and made it seem to float around him.

His dad admired his handiwork on the bump still on Ranma's head. A large bandage was atop Ranma's head with an old Saotome family cure seething through from the other side. "I'll go see Dr. Tofu after school." He yawned.

Ranma didn't get much sleep, his thoughts about Ryoga sleeping in Akane's bed again wouldn't allow him to. _That Akane is so dense, _he thought, _I can't believe that through all the hints that I gave her AND the fact that Ryoga was trying to steal **my** tub of the Spring of the Drowned Man, she still doesn't notice that maybe her "widdle baby P-chan" is a man?_ That thought brought back painful memories of the ruined wedding. Nabiki stealing all the money, the ruined cake, Ukyo and Shampoo with their surprise attack, Happosai drinking the barrelful of the Spring of Drowned Man, Akane and him almost getting married…Each event that day led to another and resulted in a mess that Kasumi had to clean up, not that she minded much. _But Akane only agreed to marry you because her dad told her so, and because Soun promised to give you the barrelful of the Spring of Drowned Man after the wedding. Now we have to **make** our suitors leave us alone. Besides do I **want** to marry her? _That thought nagged at the back of his head, where the bump was unfortunately. To put a thought like that away is painful enough without something on it to make the thought heavier. And more painful. Ranma was deaf to all sounds except-

"Ranma!" The call interrupted his thinking space. Ranma woke up in a daze, taking in where he was and who was calling after him. "Whaddaya want?" he asked.

"Ranma! Did you hear me? We're going to be late!" Akane shouted. "C'mon! I don't want to stand in the hall again!"

"Keep your skirt on! I'm coming!" Ranma called back as he grabbed his coat and jammed on his shoes.

After a few crashes in the house…

"Bye everybody!" Ranma yelled out behind him! No sooner than he and Akane had turned the corner did Kasumi call out, "Hey! Don't you want your lunch?"

School had been hectic, everybody teased Ranma about the failed wedding attempt. That was, until he had promised that the first man to say that would have his head bashed in. Kuno wouldn't leave him alone. The guy made plan after blackmail, threat after challenge to try to 'persuade' Ranma to give up Akane and the pig-tailed girl. He didn't react much. Just a punch to the nose made Kuno quiet.

After the final bell rang, Ranma slumped outside, waiting for Akane under the big oak tree in the front yard of the school. The daylight was almost gone. The sunset dyed the clouds gold and pink. The melted into each other and created new tints of nature. The baby blue skies followed up the clouds. The farther that he looked into the horizon, the darker the blue became. He stood there, waiting, staring at the skies canvas.

Something tapped him on the shoulder. Rnma whipped around, to see dark diamonds sparkling at him.

"Oh, hi Akane. How was your day?" Ranma asked in a nice tone.

"You could care less." Was the reply that Akane stated. Her eyes were shut tight, not willing to see Ranma.

After they called off their engagement, Akane had been less friendly to Ranma, so he figured that maybe he did, or said, something wrong. Didn't he always? He gripped the jacket that he slung over his shoulder tighter. He'd been trying, perhaps too hard, to try to make Akane a little more friendly to him: less mokery, almost no insults, being nice, and even complementing Akane. These things however, seem to make her even colder toward him.

"I need to go to Dr. Tofu's later," he said. "Wanna come?"

"….Fine."

The walk there had been almost unbearably quiet. The only sound were the thumps made by Ranma's and Akane's shoes. It had grown chilly, it was almost winter. The falling leaves made a beautiful display of autumn colors: The orange and brown almost blending in to the reds. The yellow leaves had patches of green, signaling that the leaves were from a young tree and had just fallen off.

Akane's teeth chattered slightly. No wonder! The only clothing that was visibly worn on Akane was her school uniform. "Why didn't you bring a coat?" Ranma asked, sounding irritated.

"I didn't know that it would be this cold today." Akane replied. In moments, something warm was covering her. "Huh?" she said, surprised. Ranma took his jacket and draped it over Akane's shoulders. "Um, thanks Ranma." She said, eyes cast the other direction.

Ranma smiled. _Finally. She appreciates something that I've done_.With a warm smile, he replied, "You're welcome Akane."

Akane glanced at him and immediately blushed. _I guess he is a little cute_, she decided. _Only when he is this nice, though. But what does he want from me? This nice act; it's all too much. Where is the old Ranma that I'm used to?Do I owe him anything?_

AT DR. TOFU'S

They waited in the lobby. Ranma did notice that she blushed, but thought that it was too awkward to say anything. Over the magazine that he was reading (Shonen Jump) he snuck glances at Akane, who was across from him. She crossed her legs, so her skirt inched up just a little bit. She looked at ease, no sign that she had seen him looking at her. There had been only a handful of times that he'd seen her with him like this. She looked almost cute. The bright lights in the waiting area illuminated every feature of Akane. He liked her eyes best. They shone even in the darkest time of the night. They were signals to how she was doing, what she might be thinking of, etc.

"Oh, hello Ranma! Hi, Akane!" A deep voice pierced the quiet atmosphere.

"Hello, Dr. Tofu." They greeted in unison.

There was no need to explain why they had come there. The bump's size introduced itself.

"Well, what do we have here? Let me look at that bump for you."

After painfully removing the bandage, Dr. Tofu scrutinized it with a surgeon's precision. Sighing, Dr. Tofu reported to Ranma, "Don't you ever get tired of making Akane mad so she can hit you? I thought that by the tenth time or so, you would have began to avoid ways of making her angry. Keep this up, Ranma, and I don't know how you two are going to survive living in the same house by yourselves."

A scarlet blush crept on Ranma and Akane's faces. They both avoided looking at each other, afraid that something that they'll surely say will provoke them. Ranma didn't want to make Akane mad, and Akane didn't want to let loose her bad side in front of Dr. Tofu.

Once again, they were quiet. Ranma didn't utter a cry when Dr. Tofu applied some medicine on the wound, which stung. And once again, it was Dr. Tofu who broke the silence.

"I need to show you two something after we take care of this, okay? Promise you won't freak out?"

"Uh-huh." Akane nodded.

They filed out of the waiting area and into one of the rooms that they supposed that Dr. Tofu lived in. It was well-kept and bright. The walls were the lightest of blue and its floor was shiny wood. There were a few medical charts on its bare walls and a small tv in the right corner. A few ferns and family photos provided decoration, and a cushy green couch lay facing the tv. An overhanging lamp lit the relaxing room. Bookshelves lined the left wall and windows allowed a light breeze to enter. It was his living room. Something was out of place though. A medium-sized figure lay on the couch, covered by a patchwork quilt. It didn't move.

"Dr. Tofu, what is that?" Akane questioned while pointing on the bundle.

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to both of you about." He said, hesitant. "She came into her the other night, and I was wondering if maybe you can take her in for a little while. I tried talking to her, but she wouldn't respond."

"She?" Ranma said, an eyebrow raised.

Dr. Tofu walked quietly next to the figure and gently pulled back it's covers.

A young girl, 13 or 14, lay sleeping soundly on his couch. She had silky black hair that parted to the side and curled at the ends, a flower print shirt, dark blue shorts, light skin, and long legs and arms. She looked innocent, almost angelic.

She whimpered slightly and opened her eyes. They were large, a dark shade of brown, and was misted over in exhaustion. They reflected what she saw back to you. She sat up and yawned. Stretching, she looked around her. Immediately, her eyes lost their misty gaze and became alarmed. She stood up, knocking over Dr. Tofu, and backed out toward the tv. The window illuminated her outline.

"Who are you?" she asked, arms raised and ready to defend. She looked frightened, but willing to fight to the end. Her eyes were no longer alarmed, but determined.

"It's okay, it's okay. We're not going to hurt you." Akane coaxed. "I'm Akane. This is Ranma." She pointed to a young man holding Dr. Tofu up. "And that man over there is Dr. Tofu."

"Ran-mah? Ah-kan-ney?" she said as she cocked to head to the side.

"And me! Dr. Tofu!" Dr. Tofu exclaimed, now standing up.

A giant bulge had formed behind the girl. A lock of blue hair Ranma a clue to who was making that.

"Get out!" he yelled to the girl.

"Huh?" she asked, confused. "Why?"

It was too late. The wall exploded and a pile of rubble had surely covered her. A bicycle bell rang.

"Nihao Ranma!" Shampoo greeted happily.

The three people were stunned. They weren't sure if the little girl could survive such a blast. "Shampoo!" Ranma yelled. "Get off of her!"

"What you talking about? Akane and Shampoo only girl here. I no squish anyone! I here to deliver hot noodles and special lunch for Ranma and Akane." She stated defiantly.

A series of small tornadoes blanketed Shampoo. Akane and Ranma could make out a few punches and kicks that Shampoo threw, but the wind forced her to put them at her sides. They made her float up, and tossed her into the sky. The tornado flowed back into the hand of the strange girl

The girl stood behind the couch, arms raised.

"Don't ever try anything like that again!" she screamed, like Akane. "If you do, I'll do a lot worse than that!"

She turned to the amazed spectators and said quietly, "Um, sorry for being rude earlier. My name is Janelle. Which way is Texas?"

I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter. I thought that it was a bit dull, though. Oh, well...until next time!


End file.
